Day: October 19, 2009

Finland: “‘Honour Violence’ – A Threat To Immigrant Women”
— YLE reports: “Immigrant women in Finland are increasingly the victims of violence perpetrated in the name of family honour. In Helsinki, twice as many immigrant women have sought protection this year from violence than in previous years.”
— “Nasima Razmyar, who herself came to Finland as a refugee from Afghanistan, has been taking in growing numbers of immigrant women and girls at the Monika House shelter in Helsinki’s Sornainen district. Some of these women have been forced into marriages, some beaten for disobedience or even threatened with death.”
— “This year, within just six months more than 30 women have sought refuge from honour violence at the facility. That is as many as during the whole of last year. As the coordinator at Monika House, Nasima Razmyar has the impression that the rise can be explained by growing numbers of women of marriageable age.”
— “Honour violence involves the subjugation of a woman within some ethnic groups carried out with the intent of controlling her sexual behaviour. It has been rumoured at Monika House that there have been honour killings in Finland, acts in which a family has decided to kill a disobedient daughter who, for example, has refused an arranged marriage.”